Arafat, Peres Discuss Palestinian Autonomy

Sun., May 28, 1995

Associated Press

PLO chief Yasser Arafat travelled to Morocco on Saturday for talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres on expanding Palestinian autonomy.

The previously unannounced meeting comes days after Israel backed down on plans to confiscate Arab land in east Jerusalem, eliminating a major obstacle in their peace talks.

Israel Radio said Arafat and Peres, who arrived in Morocco on Friday, would meet individually with Moroccan King Hassan II and then were to hold a three-way meeting Saturday night. The talks are being held at the invitation of the Moroccan king.

Arafat spokesman Marwan Kanafani said the talks would focus on an Israeli troop withdrawal from West Bank towns and Palestinian elections.

Israel and the PLO have set July 1 as a target date for reaching agreement on the issues, which have been delayed for almost a year largely due to Israeli security concerns. Gaza and the West Bank became autonomous last May.

Peres said last week that Arafat has been successful in recent efforts to rein in Islamic militants trying to scuttle the peace talks with deadly attacks against Israelis.

Palestinian leaders planning to meet in Tunis next month could still suspend peace talks if Peres doesn’t promise to halt all Israeli construction in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, Palestinian Education Minister Yasser Abed-Rabbo said.

He warned Gaza was “in the middle of a crisis that will explode” if the July 1 deadline was missed.

The Arab Leagues had planned a summit in Rabat for Saturday, but it was put on hold indefinitely following Israel’s decision to suspend plans to expropriate 130 acres of mostly Arab-owned land in east Jerusalem.

Israel captured and annexed the sector in 1967, but the Palestinians want the area as their capital.

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Arafat, Peres Discuss Palestinian Autonomy

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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